In the second half, Broken Arrow kept the ball mostly bottled up on the Bartlesville half of the field.

But, Bruin goalie William Doenges came through with some outstanding saves during the first several minutes of the half to maintain the shutout.

As time wound to less than 30 minutes, Lane Sizemore won an important ball for the Bruins and Axel Espinosa unleashed a shot from the right wing. The Broken Arrow goalie shifted to make the stop, but his feet slipped out from under him. He still managed to get his hands on the ball and clutch it.

Broken Arrow enjoyed a direct kick opportunity at the 23:36 point, but put the ball over the top of the Bruin goal.

Shortly after, Broken Arrow attacked from the left. A player made a chip pass to the far post, but the Bruins didn’t allow the score.

Bartlesville’s defenders did everything they could — sacrificing their legs and bodies — to stop Broken Arrow’s salvos, particularly on angle shots, toward the goal.

But, the incessant Tiger pounding finally bore fruit with a goal at the 16:45 mark, on a blistering, close-range rocket on which Doenges really didn’t have a chance to stop.

A little less than a minute later, the Tigers nearly scored again, but Doenges made the gritty save.

With less than 13 minutes left, Bartlesville’s Alan Jasso struck a corner kick and place it about as perfectly as possible to the middle in front of the goal. A Bruin player got a head on the ball, but it barely went over the top bar of the standard.

Broken Arrow added an insurance goal at the 3:38 mark.

By this time, both teams displayed signs of sapping exhausting, after having competed at full intensity for more than 70 minutes in rain and wind.

The Bruins didn’t mount many effective counter-attacks in the final two minutes and the Tigers secured the 2-0 win — Bartlesville’s first shutout loss of the season.

The Bruins will battling next Monday at Owasso to try to get back on the winning track. Reportedly, the game has been moved up — due to light issues on the Owasso field — to late afternoon.

Girls: Broken Arrow, 3-1

The Lady Bruins (6-6, 1-3) eyed a major challenge going up against the district-leading Lady Tigers (9-3, 4-0).

Broken Arrow scored first and went on to post a two-goal win.

Kearstin Littau tallied Bartlesville’s lone goal, off a direct kick.

That was only Bartlesville’s second goal in three games — and saved the Lady Bruins from suffering back-to-back shutout losses for the first time this season.

They are on a three-match losing streak as they prepare for next Monday’s test at Owasso.

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